SleepWalking

Last Saturday, after me & my family had our dinner..we had a long chat about sleepwalking..hehe..what funny stories to tell. Believe it or not i'm one of 'em dat had this behaviour when i'm still a kid. My parents used to get worried about me coz i usually sleepwalking fr my room till outside of d house! They even thought of sending me to a specialist but alhamdulillah it stopped as i grew older.

Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder characterized by walking or other activity while seemingly still asleep. Somnambulism (scientific name for sleepwalking) is a series of complex behaviors that are initiated during slow wave sleep and result in walking during sleep. It is a rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder occurring in the dream stage of sleep and most often occurs during deep non-REM sleep (stage 3 or stage 4) early in the night or near morning. During this phase, the body releases a chemical that paralyzes the body. However, those who sleepwalk do not have this chemical trigger, hence the behavior.

Medical reports show that about 18% of the population are prone to sleepwalking. It is more common in children than in adolescents and adults (boys are more likely to sleepwalk than girls). An estimated 15% of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 have walked in their sleep at least once, and most outgrow the disorder but the highest prevalence of sleepwalking was 16.7% at age 11 to 12 years of age. Sleepwalking can have a genetic tendency. If a child begins to sleepwalk at the age of 9, it often lasts into adulthood.

In children, the cause is usually unknown but may also be related to fatigue, prior sleep loss, or anxiety (not believed to be influenced by psychological factors). In adults, sleep walking is usually associated with a disorder of the mind or could indicate a personality disturbance but may also be seen with reactions to drugs and/or medications and alcohol, and medical conditions such as partial complex seizures. In the elderly, sleep walking may be a symptom of an organic brain syndrome or REM behavior disorders.

The sleep walking activity may include simply sitting up and appearing awake while actually asleep, getting up and walking around, or complex activities such as moving furniture, going to the bathroom, dressing and undressing, and similar activities. Some people even drive a car while actually asleep. The episode can be very brief (a few seconds or minutes) or can last for 30 minutes or longer.

One common misconception is that a sleep walker should not be awakened. It is not dangerous to awaken a sleep walker, although it is common for the person to be confused or disoriented for a short time on awakening. Another misconception is that a person cannot be injured when sleep walking. Actually, injuries caused by such things as tripping and loss of balance are common for sleep walkers.

There are some things a sleepwalker can do:

• Make sure you get plenty of rest; being overtired can trigger a sleepwalking episode.
• Develop a calming bedtime ritual. Some people meditate or do relaxation exercises; stress can be another trigger for sleepwalking.
• Remove anything from the bedroom that could be hazardous or harmful.
• The sleepwalker's bedroom should be on the ground floor of the house. The possibility of the patient opening windows or doors should be eliminated.

Sleepwalking can be treated with drugs called Benzodiazepines where a small dose of diazepam or lorazepam eliminates the episodes or considerably reduces them. Hypnosis has also proven to be successful on a short-term basis.

(Source : crescentlife.com)